The lawyer for some of the dismissed lecturers at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Raymond Atuguba, is blaming the Member of Parliament for Effutu and his client, Supi Kofi Kwayera for the current troubles at the university.

According to him, the recent happenings had been possible because of a lawsuit Afenyo Markin and his client filed at the High Court to hound the former UEW Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mawutor Avoke out of office.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr Atuguba insisted that the suit, filed at the Winneba High Court initiated the recent troubles.

“We didn’t have all these problems until Afenyo Markin and Supi Kofi Kwayera begun this whole suit. That is what has brought us to this point. He caused this initiate the feud in the Winneba High Court and this has brought this disastrous ball in motion,” he said. The University of Education Winneba has been in the news over the dismissal of some staff of the school including local UTAG president, Dr. Frimpong Duku.

Dr. Duku has said he did not breach any internal regulation as mentioned in his dismissal letter.

“Somewhere around last year, I had the news that because I have taken the university to court. I should appear before a committee and that was unsettling to me because the university was built on acts and if you check the acts, it states clearly that a university shall be a body corporate with a perpetual succession of common use and may be sued on its own. So if I am in university and I believe something going on wrong and I go to court for interpretation. How did this become an offence warranting a dismissal,” he said.

Some students of the university also protested on Tuesday over the issue with threats of embarking on such protest until their demands are met.

Restore calm at UEW as soon as possible – Kwesi Yankah charges Council

Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah has urged the Governing Council for University of Education, Winneba (UEW) to restore calm following a protest by students over the dismissal of some senior staff of the school.

The Minister made the appeal while addressing the press after meeting with school authorities for several hours.

Giving details of what was discussed at the meeting, the Minister said “ the issue that emerged between us in the interaction was for the Council to take whatever steps that are necessary to ensure that peace and harmony returns to campus within the shortest possible term to ensure that normal academic work resumes and that the students go back to school and the lecturers continue teaching if they have boycotted classes.”

Professor Yankah also urged calm among the agitated students and asked them to return to their classrooms on Wednesday.

Background

The Winneba High Court in 2017 ordered Prof Avoke, to step aside until the case brought against him and the University’s Governing Council was determined.

The case brought before the court by one Supi Kofi Kwayera, who insisted that the Vice Chancellor and the Finance Officer, were operating under the institution’s defunct governing council.

The plaintiff argued that University’s Council’s mandate had expired in November 2013, but the Education Ministry failed to constitute a new Governing Council for the university and rather allowed the defunct Governing Council which had no mandate whatsoever to continue in the functions of a properly constituted Governing Council.

Supi Kofi Kwayera also alleged financial and procurement irregularities on the part of the Prof Avoke.

The court, in July 2017, then ordered Prof Avoke to step aside until a case brought against him and the University’s Governing Council was determined.

Also in July, Prof Avoke, along with four others; the Finance Officer, Dr. Theophilus Senyo Ackorlie; Daniel Tetteh, Mary Dzimey and Frank Owusu Boateng, were interdicted by the school after it emerged that some vital documents at some offices at the centre of an ongoing investigation had disappeared.

They were then found guilty of procurement and other financial irregularities in December 2017.

The irregularities had to do with the monies paid to the contractors of the North Campus Roads project.

In August 2018, the UEW governing council dismissed the five principal officers of the institution after a fact-finding committee had been set up to look into the matter.

Prof Avoke had maintained his innocence and had been challenging his indictment in court.

Prof. Afful Broni was subsequently inducted as the Vice-Chancellor of UEW.